This afternoon, Al-Qaida's As-Sahab Media Foundation has released the secondaudio recording of Usama Bin Laden in the space of only three days--this time,openly addressed "to the Islamic nation." But, perhaps what is most interestingabout Bin Laden's latest set of audio recordings is not what they contain--butrather, what they inexplicably lack: the English-language subtitles and matchingtranscript that have, until recently, been a customary feature ofprofessional-quality As-Sahab videos. An analysis of the history of As-Sahabrecordings and their evolution over time would seem to indicate that theresponsibility for creating these English-language products fell largely on theshoulders of one man alone: Adam Gadahn (a.k.a. "Azzam al-Amriki"), theCalifornia native who was recruited by Al-Qaida computer specialists living inGarden Grove in the late 1990s, and who later traveled on to Pakistan seeking tojoin his new hero Usama Bin Laden. Gadahn's voice and, more recently, his facehave been an integral part of As-Sahab releases since their first videoproduction in 2001, "The Destruction of the U.S.S. Cole" (a.k.a. "State of theUmmah"). He has frequently appeared as a freely identified commentator inAs-Sahab videos, with clips of him speaking in English juxtaposed amid footageof Usama Bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.In January 2008, the U.S.military used a Predator drone to launch an airstrike on a house in Mir Ali,Pakistan, which was suspected to be hiding several high-ranking Al-Qaida leadersand operatives. Within days, Al-Qaida issued a series of statements and videorecordings acknowledging that the airstrike had caused serious casualties,including Abu al-Laith al-Liby--a senior Al-Qaida leader considered to be the"Field Commander" in charge of foreign mujahideen military operations acrosslarge swaths of southern Afghanistan. But accordingto NEFA Foundation sources inside Pakistan, the legendary Abu al-Laith was notthe only loss suffered in the strike at Mir Ali. These sources indicated that ahost of other less-senior-but-still-significant Al-Qaida members were alsoinside the house at the time, including Abu al-Laith's deputy, a Somali holdingAustralian or U.S. nationality, two Kuwaiti jihadis, and--most interesting ofall--none other than Adam Gadahn himself. Al-Qaida has never confirmed nordenied reports of Adam Gadahn's death, and that has only added to the growingmystery surrounding his whereabouts.This much can definitively be said:there has been a palpable decline in the efforts of As-Sahab to provideEnglish-language translations since the January airstrike in Mir Ali. WhenAs-Sahab recently released a two-part online Q&A session with Dr. Aymanal-Zawahiri, it was only able to produce an English translation for the firstsegment. Even the limited translations As-Sahab has managed to cobble togetherrecently appear somewhat different linguistically from previous work attributedto Adam Gadahn. What distinctly struck me on Friday was the As-Sahab release ofa Bin Laden audio recording specifically addressed "to the people of theWest"--most of whom speak little to no Arabic. One would imagine that ifAs-Sahab were to ever seek to spotlight its foreign language capabilities, thiswould be the totally obvious occasion. And yet, there has only been silence fromAl-Qaida in this regard.For those who are carefully following the ongoingsaga of Adam Gadahn, it is worth paying close attention to one upcoming calendardate in particular: the seventh anniversary of 9/11. Gadahn has demonstrated apast penchant for making grandiose public appearances on 9/11, triumphantlygloating over Al-Qaida's latest "victories" over its enemies. His continuedunexplained absence from As-Sahab releases as this date approaches will only addfurther weight to the argument that Gadahn was indeed "martyred" alongside Abual-Laith al-Liby in the far northern reaches of Pakistan. For Gadahn, it hasbeen a long journey and a strange ideological transformation from his youngerdays in California spent promoting recycling and environmental conservation. Ifultimately proven, his death will serve as a lesson for what happens to naiveindividuals lured into believing there is honor in playing foolish games withguns and bombs.So, Adam, in the event that you are still out there (alive,kicking, and reading this message), please do drop a line and let us know whathas become of you!May 18, 2008 05:32 PM